8/2/2019 Best News Report in Print - Richard Baker & Nick McKenzie

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Ocean acidification caused by fossil fuel emissions may beturning fish deaf. Clownfish reared in seawater acidified bycarbon dioxide have impaired hearing, a UK study found.

 This could have devastating consequences for the colourfulstar of animated movie Finding Nemo, say scientists.

 ARTS PAGE 15CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESSDAY  14

COMMENT & DEBATE PAGE 13EDITORIALS, LETTERS PAGE 12MINDGAMES PAGE 16

OBITUARIES PAGE 16SHARES BUSINESSDAY  10-12

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 WEATHERCloudy with alittle raindeveloping.12-17TOMORROW Early showers 11-15

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MONDAY Shower or two 7-13

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The story of Brett Wood’sbravery under fire

NEWS

ONE CLEAR DAY

But don’t panic say analysts

SHARESTUMBLE

BUSINESSDAY

Bugged:SirKenJonestargetedbytheOPI

SIR KEN JONESResigned as Victoria Police deputy commissioner last month amid claimsof tensions with chief Simon Overland,including over the reporting of crimestatistics.

SIMON OVERLANDOrdered Sir Ken from his office on May 6 — onthe same day he asked the Office of PoliceIntegrity to investigate him. Is believed to havesuspected his deputy of leaking confidentialinformation about the death of Carl Williams.

OPI DEPUTY DIRECTORPAUL JEVTOVICLaunched electronicsurveillance of Sir Ken,and at least one stategovernment employee,after the complaintfrom Mr Overland.

OMBUDSMANGEORGEBROUWERHas launched aninvestigation into theOPI over concerns itspursuit of Sir Ken mightbe an abuse of powers.

By RICHARD BAKERand NICK McKENZIEAGE INVESTIGATIVE UNIT 

Continued PAGE2

Covert operation sparks

inquiry byOmbudsmanEXCLUSIVE

  VICTORIA’S Office of PoliceIntegrity has undertaken elec-tronic surveillance of departing deputy police commissioner SirKen Jones in an operation that isalso monitoring the communic-ations of at least one staff mem-ber of a ministerial office.

Senior police and govern-ment sources have confirmedthat the OPI has activated itsextraordinary powers after acomplaint lodged by policechief commissioner SimonOverland against Sir Ken. It hasfor weeks been intercepting thecommunications of Sir Ken, his

 wife and other close associates.The Age has learnt the opera-

tion also involves attempts tomonitor the communications of one or more people working in

sensitive Victorian governmentpositions who have been identi-fied as supporters of the formerBritish policeman.

In response to the possibility that Sir Ken was an OPI target, itis understood that his house

 was swept for bugs.The Age  has also learnt that

the Office of Police Integrity isnow itself under investigationover concerns that its pursuit of Sir Ken at the request of MrOverland may be an abuse of thepowersgivento itto uncoverserious police corruption.

Ombudsman George Brouweris believed to have launched aprobe into the use of powers by the OPI and other issues.

The developments have leftthe state and its governmentfacing extraordinary turmoil atthe highest levels of its law enforcement structures, includ-ing a beleaguered Chief Com-

missioner of Police and now akey watchdog under suspicionand investigation by another.

The OPI inquiry into Sir Kencomes months before the police

  watchdog will be replaced by anew anti-corruption body.

The OPI is believed to beexamining interaction betweenSir Ken and one or more publicservants or ministerial aidesrelating to his dispute with MrOverland and the manner in

 which he left the Victoria Police.

Mr Overland has neverexplained why he ordered SirKen to leave his office immedi-ately on Friday May 6 — fourdays after the Welsh-bornpoliceman announced his resig-nation and intention to finish in

 August — or why he asked theOPI to probe his deputy.

 As reported in The Age  lastmonth, Mr Overland visited OPIdeputy director Paul Jevtovic

 just hours before he ordered SirKen out on May 6.

  A senior police source saidMr Jevtovic has been in chargeof the operation targeting SirKen while OPI director MichaelStrong was away on holiday inrecent weeks. He recently  returned to work.

It is known that Mr Overlandsuspected Sir Ken of leaking information about the compet-e nc y, i n de pe n de nc e a n d

ReformsettoreopenWalshStBy JOHN SILVESTER

iPad editionDownload The Age iPad at the

iTunes App Store to see:

I An extended version of this story,

video and interactive graphic.

Continued PAGE 2Editorial PAGE12

T HE investigation into the

 Walsh Street murders of Con-stables Steven T ynan andD am ia n E y r e i s s et t o b ereopened when the state gov-ernment introduces ground-breaking legislation overturning the 800-year-old-laws of double

 jeopardy.‘‘Certainly Walsh Street is

one of the cases that could res-ult in a retrial if a court is satis-fied there is sufficient new andcompelling evidence. It is agood example of the sort of casethat could fall within the new rules,’’ Attorney-General RobertClark told The Age .

He said he expected thatlegislation giving the Court of 

 Appeal the power to grant retri-als despite previous acquittals

 will be ready to be put to Parlia-ment later this year.

Mr Clark said the age of thefailed Walsh Street prosecution

 would not create an obstacle to apotentialretrial as therewouldbeno time constraints written intothe new law. ‘‘It will be designedso that it will apply to past cases.’’

Four men, Victor GeorgePeirce, Peter David McEvoy, Tre-vor Pettingill andAnthony Farrell

  were acquitted of the Octo-ber 12, 1988 ambush murder of the two policemen. Taskforceinvestigators and relatives of thevictims have been lobbying foran inquest into the case.

Last year homicide squaddetectives began to update thecase to prepare for a possiblecoronial hearing.

Mr Clark said the govern-ment was committed to its pre-election promise to abolishdouble jeopardy.

The policeman who jointly headed the taskforce investiga-tion into Walsh Street, formerDetective Inspector JohnNoonan, said if a new trial washeld hewas confidentof gaining convictions: ‘‘It is never too latefor justice and justice has neverbeen delivered in this case.’’

T he Attorney -General’sdepartment has begun discus-sions with senior police and theOffice of Public Prosecutions todevelop the new law.

Under the likely model theChief Commissioner will brief the Director of Public Prosecu-tions on cases where there isnew and compelling evidencenot available at the time of thefirst trial, suggestions a jury hasbeen nobbled, or proof a wit-ness has committed perjury.

If the DPP agrees, prosecu-

tors will make a submission tothe Court of Appeal asking forthe acquittal to be set aside anda new trial to be held.

  Assistant Commissioner(Crime) Graham Ashton said: ‘‘If and when thelegislation is intro-duced, we will of course look at

  what new options this mightpresent because we remainfirmly committed to achieving 

 justice for the families of StevenTynan and Damian Eyre.’’

Mr Clark stressed the generalrule of double jeopardy wouldremain and the new law wouldonly relate to a limited class of cases, including murder anddesignated serious offences.

Investigators say there areseveral potential ly fertilegrounds to justify a review of 

 Walsh Street including:I Star prosecution witness

LandmarkRiodealtodeliverbillionstoAboriginesBy MICHAEL GORDONNATIONAL EDITOR

INDIAN OCEAN 

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

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Continued PAGE2

T RADIT IONAL Aboriginalowners stand to receive morethan $2 billion over 40 yearsunder a watershed agreement

 with Rio Tinto that sets a new standard for negotiationsbetween miners and indigenous

 Australia.The deal also has the poten-

tial to tackle profound disad-vantage in the Pilbara region of 

 Western Australia.

Seven years in the making,the agreement will allow about40 new iron ore mines to pro-ceed in an area of 70,000 squarekilometres, with the company signing up to bold targets toemploy and engage as supplierslocal indigenous communities,to protect significant sites andto back native title claims.

In terms of scale, breadth,duration and the inclusion of fixed obligations on both sides,the agreement is unpreceden-t ed , w it h R io T in t o c h ie f  

executive Sam Walsh declaring:‘‘It’s good for the Aboriginalcommunity. It’s good for our

business. It also happens to bethe right thing to do.

‘‘This is of a huge scale, andit’s a huge opportunity for boththe company and the Aboriginalgroups. What we’re doing here

  will help set a new standardacross Australia.’’

Indigenous groups describedthe agreement as the most com-prehensive ever undertaken,delivering an income stream,education and job opportunit-ies, access to supply contractsand a thorough set of mining 

exclusion zones to protect signi-ficant sites. In return, indig-enouscommunitieswillcommitto boosting school attendanceandbacking partnerships aimedat equipping people to fill jobsat Rio and in support busi-nesses.

 While the financial agree-ment with five native titlegroups is confidential, it isbelieved to include a fixed rev-enue share of iron ore sales thatare predicted to increase fromabout 220 million tonnes a year

t o m or e t h an 4 0 0 m il li o ntonnes. Indigenous groups willdevote a portion of the revenueto a ‘‘future fund’’ designed toensure that coming generationsshare in the deal’s benefits.

‘ ‘One of the things thatmakes this historic is that pastagreements were based only on‘best endeavours’ [to improveoutcomes for indigenouspeople],’’ said Simon Hawkins,chief executive of the YamatjiMarlpa Aboriginal Corporation,

 which covers four of the five

claim groups. ‘‘This agreementis outcomes-focused, withrequirements on traditionalowners and Rio Tinto to meetcommitments.’’

The deal comes more than15 years after then Rio Tintochief Leon Davis advocated anend to an era of generally heavy-handed and exploitative treat-ment of traditional owners by mining companies.

It follows a study five yearsago that found that 40 years of 

Happy 80thbirthday,Sir Gus

NEWS & FOCUS

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October 11, 1988Graeme Jensen shot dead by police in a botched arrest bid inNarrre Warren.

October 12ConstablesSteven Tynanand DamianEyre ambushedand murderedin Walsh Street,

South Yarra.November 17Walsh Streetsuspect JeddHoughton shotdead by policein Bendigo.

December 30 Victor Peirce formally charged with two counts of murder overWalsh Street. Peirce’s half-brother Trevor Pettingill, Anthony Farrell and Peter McEvoy arealso charged.

 April 9, 1989Walsh Street suspect Gary  Abdallah, shot by police.He dies 40 days later.

March 26, 1991Supreme Court jury acquitsthe four accused men.

May 1, 2002 Victor Peirce shotdead in Bay Street,Port Melbourne.

October 1, 2005The Age reportsPeirce’s wife Wendy admits her husband

organised the policemurders as revengefor the death of his friend, GraemeJensen.

February 5, 2010McEvoy arrested inNewcastle and tells

police, ‘‘The sweetest thing I ever heard was the policeofficer’s last words while he was dying.’’

November 27Coalition wins government ona raft of election promises thatincluded changing the laws of double jeopardy, leaving openthe possibility of a retrial.

WALSH STREET MURDERS

Steven Tynan

Damian Eyre

Reform to reopenWalsh StFrom PAGE 1

  Wendy Peirce recanted her ori-ginal statements and refused to

implicate the four men. She waslater convicted of perjury.I One of the acquitted men,Peter McEvoy, made an appar-ent confession when arrested inNewcastle last year, declaring:‘‘The sweetest thing I ever heard

  was the police officer’s last words while he was dying.’’I A police statement made by aprison officer that McEvoy brag-ged in jail about killing twopolice.I A confession by Wendy Peirce,published in The Age  in 2005,that she lied to protect her hus-band.‘‘It [Walsh Street]was spur

of the moment, we were on therun. Victor was the organiser.’’I A recent police statementbelieved to be signed by Mrs

Peirce confirming her husband’srole in the double murder.

  Victor Peirce was shot deadin Port Melbourne in 2002.

In the original trial , theaccused men made unswornstatements from the dock, alltelling the jury they were notguilty. Unsworn statementshave now been banned and anaccused either remains silent orgives sworn testimony, which isopen to cross-examination.

Laws modifying double jeop-ardy protection have beenintroduced in Britain, New Zeal-and, Queensland, New South

  Wales and South Australia.Mr Clark said he would also

ask the Law Reform Commis-sion to examine wrongful con-

viction practices to ensureprisoners can also receive

 justice. ‘‘In principle it should work both ways.’’

He said DNA reviews couldprovide ‘‘classic examples of new and compelling evidence’’.

The Law Institute of Victor-ia’s Michael Holcroft said theinstitute did not support waiv-ing double jeopardy laws whennew evidence emerged. ‘‘Thereshould be finality in prosecu-tions and only in rare casesshould there be a retrial. Itshould not occur because theinitial verdict is not popular.’’

Sir Ken Jones buggedFrom PAGE 1

Gota tip?investigations@theage.com.au

accountability of the policeforce to the media or politicalfigures. But it is not known

 whether Premier Ted Baillieu orPolice Minister Peter Ryan areaware of the extent of the OPIprobe into Sir Ken and the tar-geting of one or more people

 working out of Treasury Place.Both Mr Baill ieu and Mr

Ryan have repeatedly said thatthey do not know the reason MrOverland told Sir Ken to go.

Sir Ken had briefed Mr Over-land on the contents of a sensit-i v e r ep or t i n to m ur de r scommitted by parolees justhours before he was ordered toleave. The report is believed tohave found up to four murderscould have been prevented hadpolice data bases kept bettertrack of parolees.

Several inquires into MrOverland’s command of thepolice and the wider adminis-tration of justice are under way.The government has engaged

Jack Rush, QC, to investigate thestructures of police command.Mr Brouwer is also investigating 

 whether Mr Overland was influ-enced by pressure from the for-mer Labor government torelease inaccurate and incom-plete crime statistics just beforelast November’s state election.

The Age has previously repor-tedthatMr Overlandwas warnedbysenior policefigures,including 

media director Nicole McKe-chnie,notto complywiththefor-mer government’s request.

Mr Brouwer is also investig-ating the circumstances that ledto gangland figure and potentialpolice corruption witness Carl

 Williamsbeingmovedfromisol-ation at Barwon Prison last year.Prisoner Matthew Johnson hasbeen charged with his murder.

Department of Justice secret-ary Penny Armytage was among those who authorised the move-ment of Williams from isolation.

LandmarkRio dealFrom PAGE 1

substantial economic develop-m en t i n t he P il ba ra h addelivered virtually no positivebenefits for the region’s indig-

enous population, with roughly the same number of Aboriginalpeople arrested in a year as werein mainstream employment.

Prepared for the Centre for  Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, the report cited highunemployment, poor educa-tional achievement and drug and alcohol abuse as contribut-ing to high arrest rates and ageneral lack of capacity.

The deal commits Rio Tintoto have Aboriginal workers fromthe Pilbara comprise 14 per centof its workforce, to support localindigenous business to a similar

level and to provide its entire  workforce with cultural aware-ness training. If it fails to meetthe job target, Rio Tinto will berequired to spend $200,000 a

 year for each of the groups on

education scholarships.‘‘This is about people in the

Pilbara being in charge of thistransforming process in theirlives,’’ said Janina Gawler, Rio’schief negotiator in the agree-ment. ‘‘The challenges ahead inthe implementation are aboutbuilding capacity and working 

 with the groups to deliver on thevision that the traditionalowners themselves have.

‘‘They want to see benefitsfor their children’s children andto ensure that their culture andheritage and law are maintainedand are strong.’’

Australia entering‘decades of boom’New middle class in China, India to boost economy

8000

$ MILLION

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0 MARCH 2007 MARCH 2011SOURCE:DEUTSCHE BANK;ABS

EXPORTS BOUNCE BACKCOAL 

METAL ORES AND MINERALS

By PETER MARTINECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT 

THE head of the Treasury hasrelegated the March quartereconomic downturn to the past,saying Australiais abouttoentera boom that should last decadespropelled by high export prices,enhanced mining capacity anda once-in-a-century globalrealignment.

T he Australian dollar isunlikely to go back to where it

 was, and manufacturing willshrink in importance to theeconomy, perhaps even fasterthan it has been.

Speaking to senators as offi-cial statistics were releasedshowing a rebound in coal andiron ore exports and a lift inconsumer spending, MartinParkinson said Treasury hadalways expected the Marchquarter downturn reported on

  Wednesday, although it hadbeen “marginally larger” than itpredicted.

There was nothing in Wed-nesday’s news to change itsview that the March and June quar-ters would be weak, followed by “a strong rebound with very positive growth prospects in2011-12 and 2012 -13”.

There had been many “extra-vagant claims” about the impactof a carbon price. Those claimsdid not stand up to scrutiny.

 About $380 billion of mining investment was already under

 way or committed over the nextfive years. In the coming year$83 billion would be invested inenhanced mining capacity, up

from $51 billion in the financial year about to end.

It was being driven by “anexpectation of continued very strong growth in demand forcommodities worldwide — weare talking about China, Indiaand a range of other countriesthat are rapidly improving theliving standards of their people”.

“Because those projects arefor mines that will exist for 20,30,40 even50 years,theywillnot

be knocked off course by short-term disruptions,” he said.

Treasury chief economistDavid Gruen told the Senateestimates hearing that while

  Australia’s record-high com-modity prices might fall back incoming decades “our assump-tion is the next 10 years don’tlook like the past 10 years: wethink the Australian economy isin the midst of a long-livedchange”.

The exchange rate would notreturn to its long-run historicalaverage “any time soon”.

The figures showed iron ore

exports rebounding 3.8 per centin April on top of an 18 per centrecovery in March. Coal exportsimproved a further 1.4 per centafter rebounding 14 per cent inMarch.

The retail spending figurespurported toshow a1.1 per centbounce back in April, but a largechunk of that was due to anunlikely 21 per cent jump inspending on shoes in Victoria,suggesting the results of thesample survey should be treated

 with caution.  While mining was part of 

 Australia’s economic transform-ation, Dr Parkinson found the“whole discussion about theimportance of mining quitebizarre”.

“Mining is 8 per cent of grossdomestic product,” he told thehearing. “It’s a very important8 per cent, but there’s a very important 92 per cent of GDP

  which is out there which forsome reason we have stoppedtalking about.”

  All parts of Australia’s econ-omy would be transformed as itretooled itself to sell to an Asianmiddle class that would becomebigger than that of the UnitedStates, bringing an “accelerationin the long-term decline in theimportance of manufacturing”.

 Although the Treasury sec-retary would not “draw a directlink between climate changeand the things we have seenover this summer,” it was inevit-able that the budget would facegreater pressure in the futurefrom climate-related eventssuch as bushfires or flooding.